Viewly ICO Seeks To Help The Little Content Creator Monetize Their Videos

Viewly is a Slovenia-based decentralized video platform powered by blockchain and peer-to-peer sharing. It eliminates the need for ads by using a patronage model, allowing creators to use fan support, micro-payments, sponsorships, memberships, premium content and more to monetize their content.

The Viewly platform uses decentralized hosting networks built on top of peer-to-peer technology to allow anyone with extra storage capacity and bandwidth to host and stream videos. The idea is to help the smaller content creators monetize their works without taking a huge bite out of their generated revenue.

“Ad-based video platforms are fundamentally flawed for both creators and their audiences,” said Stefan Furlan, Director of Viewly. “Only creators with large audiences can make a living off their efforts, and even then, they must give up nearly half their ad revenue; and ads often ruin the experience for viewers.”

Viewly’s token-based model allows users to support their favorite creators by pledging VIEW tokensin amounts of their own choosing. Creators may reward their most loyal viewers with access to special content and the creator’s inner circle. The Viewly blockchain application also utilizes smart contracts for sponsors and creators once they agree on pricing structure and deliverables.Payments are instant.

The company is preparing for its token sale on Feb. 22. Marketing manager Munly Leong answered a few questions from Block Tribune about the company’s plans.

BLOCK TRIBUNE:Tell me how Viewly works from a content creator perspective. I presume they have to buy tokens to participate in an ecosystem. Can you provide details on what will be needed to get started?

MUNLY LEONG: Content creators will be mainly using VIEW tokens to pay for hosting with other hosts, but users will be able to watch videos for free with whatever’s been designated as a free content. We’ll also be providing some level of free service to start with and figuring out the exact mix of that closer to mid-year.

BLOCK TRIBUNE: There are a number of blockchain video plays out there. What’s your differentiation?

MUNLY LEONG: dTube takes a 35% cut which in the blockchain world, doesn’t need to be so high. Our “symbolic” cut is more similar to the gas fee in ethereum, 5% or less. Flixxo is more of a traditional ad play using swarm delivery vs a minimum dedicated level of service like we are. LBRY is a desktop client only and is more of a mix of crypto mining and wikipedia /archive.org type service vs how we focus more on higher quality content that may have a narrower but deeper niche.

BLOCK TRIBUNE: What’s your marketing plan to drive traffic?

MUNLY LEONG : That’s a big part of what the Viewly demo is, currently slated for Feb release in time for the ICO. We will have a tool that allows fans to “tip” and recommend creators into Viewly on YouTube and introduce them that way. This will be a world-first in user/network based token allocation and completely usable at the end of our ICO. At the same time, should a creator want to ensure that they are able to use the tokens asap and monetize immediately, they’ll have to reach out to their fan base to encourage them to “vote” them into Viewly faster. We will have a queue and will also be hand curating when on-boarding the first batch of initial creators

BLOCK TRIBUNE: How do you make money?

MUNLY LEONG: We do take a “symbolic cut” which tops out at less than 5%. However, we have another revenue stream that is much more lucrative that is currently being worked out that we will announce closer to mid-year. What we can say is that it won’t affect or be aimed at small or younger upcoming creators.

BLOCK TRIBUNE: What content restrictions are there on the platform?

MUNLY LEONG: Initially we are focused on high-quality creators and auteur-types. However, this hasn’t been finalized by the team and, policy-wise, is something we plan to only lock down after the ICO. We have internally discussed this and things like opt-in walls on more potentially adult or offensive content have been considered as a reasonable compromise.

BLOCK TRIBUNE: Are there plans to list your tokens on an exchange? Anything specific?

MUNLY LEONG: Yes, though most exchanges stipulate that making such pronouncements be done closer to the dates that things are ready by.

BLOCK TRIBUNE: Where will your offices be based and what are your customer service plans in case of complaints?

MUNLY LEONG: We’re a distributed / decentralized company. The core team is still based in Slovenia for now, however the current community staff are distributed between the UK, Asia and North American time. We have also discussed expansion plans and HQ’s outside of central Europe but these aren’t anything we’re committed enough to yet to announce.